Flexible cargo container



Feb. 4, 1969 F. J. MARINO 3,425,472

FLEXIBLE CARGO CONTAINER Filed NOV. 27, 1967 INVENTOR. Frank J. MarinoATTORNEY United States Patent Oflice 6 Claims Int. Cl. B65d 19/06, 33/28ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A flexible walled container conformable tovarying amounts of contents of the container, together with means forconveniently compacting and retaining unused wall portions of thecontainer.

Background of the invention Containers of the flexible walled type forpackaging cargo items of small and intermediate sizes have a wallconstruction defining a fixed capacity. When such containers arepartially filled, the excess unused wall portions thereof presentproblems in disposition of the same. Further, in such cases, the unusedportion of the container interferes with the normal utility of thecontainer including handling, storage and retrieval of the contents ofthe container.

Accordingly, an object of this invention is to provide a flexible walledcontainer having multiple wall sections which may be independentlymanipulated to reduce the effective volume of the container to theactual volume of the contents of the container; and further, to closelyconform the containers walls to the boundary contours of the contentsthereof.

Another object of this invention is to provide a container of thecharacter described, which includes a rigid base portion to therebypalletize the container to facilitate the handling thereof by means ofconventional pallet handling equipment.

A further object of this invention is to provide a container of thecharacter described including flexible wall portions which are highlyresistant to abrasion, moisture and wear; said wall portions includingsuccessive, spaced mouth portions with independent means forconstricting the mouth portions whereby to adjust the volume of theenclosure to the actual volume of the contents thereof and toautomatically relate the gathered wall portions of the container to theboundary contours of the contents of the container.

Still another object of this invention is to provide an improvedflexible walled cargo container having structural details whichfacilitates the manufacture thereof in an economical manner; whichallows for eflicient filling, closing and emptying operations; allowsfor convenient transport of the containers and their contents; andpermits for simple collapse of empty containers to a minimized bulk anda flat condition to allow for stacking of the empty containers.

Summary of the invention The container of the instant inventioncomprises essentially a base container portion of fabric, with one ormore bottomless peripheral wall sections in telescoped relation to thebase container portion, thereby providing multiple independent mouthportions with means for 3,425,472 Patented Feb. 4, 1969 separatelyconstricting each month portion to effect closure of the overallcontainer and to closely conform the walls of the container to theboundary contours of the contents of the container.

Brief description of the drawing FIG. 1 is a perspective view showingthe cargo con tainer embodying the invention, in its open form;

FIG. 2 is a view similar to that of FIG. 1, showing the container in itsclosed condition; 6

FIG. 3 is a vertical sectional view taken on the line 3-3 of FIG. 1; and

FIG. 4 is an enlarged vertical sectional view showing details of themouth portion of the lower container section.

' Description of the preferred embodiment The transportation of. cargohas placed great emphasis on containerization for more efficienthandling of the same. Such containers vary greatly in size and contours,in accordance with the type of cargo and the particular transportationmeans for carrying the same. More specifically, air transport has foundto its advantage the containerization of cargo of all sizes and contoursHowever, in the case of small or intermediate size items which are to betransported by air, .it is difficult to aggregate such items in a formconvenient for handling, except by loading the same into rigid orflexible containers.

Thus, as shown in the drawings, 10 designates a cargo containerembodying the invention. The same comprises a rigid base portion 11,;which for the purpose of illustration, is shown as rectangular in shape.'Upstanding from the peripheral edge portions of base portion 11, is atubular flexible lower container section 12 and a tubular flexible uppercontainer extension section 13 extending upwardly from lower section 12.

The base portion 11 may be formed of molded plastic, wood, metal or thelikegand may take pallet form. Thus, base portion 11 comprises a bottomwall portion 14 with laterally spaced leg portions 15.;extendingdownwardly therefrom to raise wall portion 14 above a supporting surfaceand to allow container 10 to be lifted and transported by suitabledevices such as a fork lift truck or the like.

The container sections 12, 13 may be formed of plastic coated fabric andmay be in integral form. The fabric may be of nylon with a vinylcoating, thus providing material which is highly resistant to abrasion,moisture and wear in general.

The lower container section 12 comprises side wall portions 16, end wallportions 17; said portions 16, 17 terminating at their lower edges ininturned marginal portions 18 which are fixed between bottom wallportion 14- and a sheet insert 19 of plywood or the like, by staples,rivets, or the like, not shown. Preferably, the peripheral edges ofinsert 19 project slightly beyond the peripheral edges of bottom wallportion 14.

A peripheral bumper strip 20 of nylon webbing is stitched to the loweredge portion 21 of container section 12 on the outer surface thereof.Handles 22 are provided at the corners of container section 12, the samebeing formed of nylon webbing strips 23 with the terminal portionsthereof extending diagonally of side wall portions 16 and end wallportions 17 and stitched thereto, handle forming loop portions 24projecting from the corners of said container section 12.

The upper container extension section 13 is formed by first folding aperipheral marginal portion 25 of the lower container section 12,downwardly about the peripheral top edge 26 of said container section 12and stitched in place as at 27 to form a reinforced-mouth portion 28 forlower container section 12. The plastic coated fabric forming sections12, 13 is then folded at the bottom of marginal portion 25, as at 29, toprovide an upwardly extending walled portion including side wallportions 16A and end wall portions 17A.

The upper edge portions of end wall portions 17A are folded inwardly onedge 30 and wall portions 16A are similarly folded on edges 31, toprovide a reinforced mouth portion 32 for the upper container extensionportion 13.

Means is provided for independently constricting the mouth portions 28,32 of the container sections 12, 13 respectively. To this end, mouthportion 28 is provided with peripherally spaced grommet members 33 andmouth portion 32 is similarly provided with spaced grommet members 34.Elongated members 35, 36, such as cords, cables or the like, arethreaded through the grommet members 33, 34 respectively.

A weatherproof flap 37 of plastic coated fabric may be secured along oneside edge thereof within one side of mouth 28; the edge 38 thereof beinglocated adjacent folded edge 29, see FIG. 4. Mouth 28 may also be ventedwith a series of spaced drainage openings 40 adjacent fold 29, to allowthe escape of any water collecting between sections 12, 13.

It will be apparent that container may be held with its sections 12, 13in open upright condition, as indicated in FIG. 1, frame means, notshown, being used to hold the container walls in distended relation. Thecontainer 10 may then be filled with small or intermediate sizepackages, as well as postal material and the like. The volume of suchcontents may vary up to the maximum capacity of container 10.

In any case, the mouth 32 of the upper section 13 is constricted bydrawing cord or cable 36 together, thus bring edges 30, 31 at the mouth32 together. The flap 37 may then be moved in overlying relation togathered mouth 32. The mouth 28 is then constricted by drawing cord orcable 25 together. This will make the container 10 compactly set up inrelation to its contents and with the walls thereof in closelyconforming relation to the boundary contours of the contents.

The loaded container 10 :lends itself to easy handling via lift trucksand the like, and may also be handled manuall by loops 24. The contentsof the container 10 are quic ly removed therefrom by reversing theclosing procedure through untying cords 35, 36 to open mouths 28, 32.

When containers 10 are empty and not in use, they may be collapsed to aflat folded condition for stacking and storage in a minimum amount ofspace. Preferably, the side walls 16 of section 12 have a height notexceeding one half the width of the bottom wall of container 10; thusfacilitating the folding of walls 16 toward each other and downwardlyinto contact with bottom member 19; the walls of section 13 and flap 37being suitably tucked into place relative to section 12.

As various changes might be made in the herein disclosed embodiment ofthe invention without departing from the spirit thereof, it isunderstood that all matter herein shown or described is by way ofillustration and not limiting except as set forth in the appendedclaims.

What is claimed is:

1. A cargo container comprising a base member and a tubular flexiblewalled member having the bottom peripheral marginal portions thereofsecured to marginal portions of said base member, said tubular membercomprising lower and upper sections defined by a reversely foldedperipheral zone connecting and integral with said sections, said zonecomprising an outwardly disposed top folded peripheral edge portion andan inwardly disposed the bottom folded peripheral edge portion to anopposed peripheral portion of said lower tubular section leaving the topfolded peripheral edge portion free of the opposed peripheral portion ofsaid upper tubular section and thereby providing a mouth for said lowertubular section, means for peripherally constricting the mouth of saidlower tubular section, and means for constricting the top edge portionsof said upper tubular section.

2. A container as in claim 1 wherein said base member comprises a rigidpallet member having recessed portions therein.

3. A flexible walled container comprising a base container portionhaving an upstanding peripheral wall portion including a mouth, and atubular flexible extension having a mouth and in telescoped, offsetrelation to said base container portion, means for securing a lowerperipheral portion of said tubular extension to said upstanding wallportion at a point below the mouth of said base container portion, themouth of said tubular extension being located above the mouth of saidbase container portion, means for constricting the mouth of said basecontainer portion, and means for constricting the mouth of said tubularextension, whereby to conform the walls of said base container portionand said tubular extension to the boundary contours of the contents ofsaid container, said base container portion including a rigid bottomwall and means for supporting said container on a surface with portionsof said bottom wall in spaced relation to said supporting surface.

4. A container as in claim 3, wherein said bottom wall is of rectangularshape, and said upstanding wall portion has a height not exceeding aboutone half the width of said bottom wall, whereby to allow said upstandingwall portion and said tubular extension to be compactly folded flatagainst said bottom wall when said container is not in use.

5. A flexible walled container comprising a base container portionhaving an upstanding peripheral wall portion including a mouth, and atubular flexible extension having a mouth and in telescoped, offsetrelation to said base container portion, means for securing a lowerperipheral portion of said tubular extension to said upstanding wallportion at a point below the mouth of said base container portion, themouth of said tubular extension being located above the mouth of saidbase container portion, means for constricting the mouth of said basecontainer portion and means for constricting the mouth of said tubularextension, whereby to conform the walls of said base container portionand said tubular extension to the boundary contours of the contents ofsaid container, the bottom peripheral edge of said tubular extensionbeing seamed to a peripheral portion of the upstanding wall portionlocated intermediate the bottom and top edge portions of said basecontainer portion to thereby provide an upper peripheral portion of saidupstanding wall portion in spaced, opposed relation to a lowerperipheral portion of said tubular extension; and the upper preripheralportion of said upstanding wall portion is formed along a lowerperipheral portion thereof with peripherally spaced vent openings.

6. A flexible walled container comprising a base container portionhaving an upstanding peripheral wall portion including a mouth, and atubular flexible extension having a mouth and is telescoped, offsetrelation to said base container portion, means for securing a lowerperipheral portion of said tubular extension to said upstanding wallportion at a point below the mouth of said base container portion, themouth of said tubular extension being located above the mouth of saidbase container portion, means for constricting the mouth of said basecontainer portion, and means for constricting the mouth of said tubularextension, whereby to conform the walls of said base container portionand said tubular extension to the boundary contours of the contents ofsaid con- 5 6 tainer, reinforcing means at the mouth of said base 0011-2,186,384 1/1940 Lester 15011 tainer and said tubular extension, saidconstricting means 2,500,341 3/ 1950 Burnett 150-1 comprising a seriesof peripherally spaced grommet means 3,356,120 12/ 1967 Nohmura 150-.5mounted in the mouth portions of said upstanding Wall FOREIGN PATENTSand said tubular extension, and elongated flexible draw- 5 ing meansthreaded through the grommet means at said 1,009,624 3/ 1952 France- 0th ort n m P 10 5 References Cited DONALD F. NORTON, Primary Examiner.

UNITED STATES PATENTS US. or. X.R. 1,207,533 12/1916 Gamble. 10855;150-11

